


The Disappearance of Gravity Falls

by MissusManic



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-29
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 11:35:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2691476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissusManic/pseuds/MissusManic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They knew things were going to be different when they returned—they just didn’t expect everyone to be gone.</p>
<p>Or the AU where an older Dipper and Mabel return to Gravity Falls, the ghost town.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What the Bus Driver Told Us

"Look Dipper, I drew you!"

 Dipper grinned at Mabel’s sketchbook portrait of him. Which, really, was less of a portrait and more of a doodle. A little Dipper looked back at him with little dot eyes, and a text box next to it said in large letters, “ I’M A DORK.”

 He threw his pen at her. Mabel expertly caught it in her mouth, giving a muffled cheer before falling back onto the bus seat.

 "Can you believe we’re going back?" Mabel said after taking out the pen. She tossed it back to Dipper, who caught it and wiped the collective drool on his hoodie. "I’m gonna make Waddles the best pig sweater ever when we get there! I bet he missed me so much!"

 The light of sunset seeped through the windows of the bus. They had long passed by buildings and concrete into woody areas, the road becoming bumpier as it became gravel. Most travelers had already gotten off the bus by then, leaving only Mabel and Dipper on the bus for the last two stops.

 Dipper flipped through Journal 3, remembering all of the Mystery Twin’s adventures. It really had been too long.

 "Do you think Soos is still at the Shack?" He asked.

 "What? Of course! Soos loves the Shack more than anything!" Mabel nudged him lightly in the shoulder. "I know we’ve been gone a while, but a Mystery Shack without the Soos is like a scrapbook without glitter."

 And they _had_ been gone a while. They hadn’t come in four years in fact. Not since they were fourteen and Dipper came back with a broken hand. Mabel, a bruised forehead. Not since their parents declared Gravity Falls too dangerous to keep going to.

 No doubt would everyone be surprised to see them now. Both Dipper and Mabel have grown significantly taller, though Mabel still kept that one millimeter difference on both of them. Dipper was pretty proud of how he’d grown. He filled out pretty well in the pains of puberty, lean with some muscle and excited when he started growing some hair. Mabel had gotten her braces removed, and she had a smile to blind (not that it didn’t before—but it was different than sunlight shining off her braces the wrong way). Her hair was a bit shorter, and her body had grown lean, like Dipper’s, and enough to earn a few appreciative glances.

 Dipper couldn’t wait to rub some of his growth into Grunkle Stan’s face.

 He grinned over at Mabel. “Do you think Toby is gonna write about us in the Gossiper?”

 Mabel raises her hands in the air, waving them slightly. “Double Disaster Returns to Gravity Falls!” She waves her hands in Dipper’s face, making creepy noises.

 Dipper laughs and pushes her hands away. “Pines Twins Return with a Vengeance! Is Our Town Safe From Theses Monsters?” He pokes his sister lightly in the stomach and growls.

 Soon they’re both laughing, poking and growling at each other as they make up ridiculous headlines.

 Then the bus stops.

 "Alright, guys, last stop."

 "Huh, funny. I thought there was another stop," Dipper says. He looks out the window, towards the sign. Only it’s not their stop. It’s not Gravity Falls.

 Mabel notices too, because she gives Dipper a look.

 Dipper walks up to the front of the Bus, and the bus driver gives him a look when he just stops in front of her.

 "Uh, Excuse me," he says as he takes his ticket stub out of his pocket. "This isn’t our stop. We’re going to Gravity Falls, see?"

 The bus driver, Ann, was someone he remembered vaguely from their previous bus rides years ago. Her red hair was graying, and while she did not look entirely unpleasant, she looked worn from a long day of driving. Ann took the stub and inspected it. Her eyes narrowed, then her eyebrows raised. She gave Dipper and Mabel, who had come up to join them, a weird look.

 "I don’t know how you got these tickets. Gravity Falls was taken off the route three years ago."

 "Wha—? Taken off the route? Why?" Dipper was getting a bad feeling about this.

 "Well, no one lives there anymore." Ann hands back the stub to Dipper.

 "But our Grunkle Stan lives there! He runs the Mystery Shack!" Mabel’s eyebrows knitted together, just as confused as Dipper was.

 Ann signed, turning away to grab the wheel. “Look, kids, since you have  tickets, I’ll drive you the rest of the way. Then you’ll see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Welcome to my prologue-ish-thingy I whipped up!
> 
> This is for an AU I've been thinking about where Mabel and Dipper have been gone from Gravity Falls, but when they do return, it's become a ghost town. This is gonna involve Bill Cipher being annoying, supernatural on the loose, and mysteries I don't completely understand myself (so please bear with me).
> 
> I actually really love getting feedback. If you have any I'm totally open and ready for it.
> 
> I'll probably post my ideas and plotting on my side-blog, daring-ghostie.tumblr.com.


	2. No Friends, No Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Mabel set up camp at the Mystery Shack and make a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Quick note. For some reason my note from Chapter One is in Chapter Two. I don't know how to fix it so please just ignore it!

Dipper's mind raced as the bus drove.

None of what Ann had told them made sense. He knew their parents weren't on very good terms with Stan anymore, but the Mystery Shack was his life. They would have at least heard if he was moving or if something had happened. It wasn't even just Grunkle Stan. Apparently it was all of Gravity Falls.

"Do you know why everyone's gone?" Dipper asked. He and Mabel had moved to the front of the bus, occupying the seat directly behind Ann. "I mean, there has to be a reason. Was it disease or... economy or something?"

"Not a clue," Ann replied. 

"They're not, like, dead or anything... right?" Mabel bit her lip, not sure if she wanted the answer to her question.

"No idea."

"Okay, do you know anything?" Dipper stood up, frustrated. "We had family and friends there, you know! An entire town of people doesn't just disappear."

"They might as well have."

This shut Dipper up, and he sat right back down.

Ann was silent for a few moments, biting her lip and contemplating what to say next.

"Look, all I know is that everyone's gone." Her finger tapped lightly against the wheel. "No one knows why. I dropped off a few tourists three years ago. They come straight back saying there's no one around. 

They did an investigation. Nothing was brought up though. Next thing I know, Gravity Falls is off the route."

The bus comes to a stop once again, and this time it really is Gravity Falls. No one waits for Dipper and Mabel. There's no Grunkle Stan to pick them up. No Soos, Candy or Grenda to meet them. The grab their bags and get off the bus, and the only other person there is Ann.

"You two sure you wanna stay?" She asks. "I turn around here. I can drive you back."

Dipper and Mabel share a glance. 

"Thanks, Ann," Mabel says, smiling. 

"Yeah, you've already done a lot for us," Dipper adds.

"Anytime." Ann tips her hat at them and the bus doors swing close. The bus moves away, and the twins are left alone.

There's a silence in the air that at once seemed both familiar and unnatural. Small town life was never particularly loud in the first place, that the twins could remember. This silence, however, was different. It came with the knowledge that something was wrong

Mabel was the first to pick up her bags.

"Come on, bro! We're wasting sunlight!"

"Alright." Dipper picked his own bags and, one last time, looked down the road. Not a single car moved in or out of Gravity.

They began their trek to the Mystery Shack.

\--

By the time they got there, the sun had already set and the town was masked in darkness. There were no lights anywhere to guide them, not even from a porch light, but they could recognize that broken sign anywhere. 

Least to say, the Mystery Shack looked as bad as it ever did. The 'S' was still off the sign, falling completely off the roof into the ground. Without proper care, the red paint was peeling off, showing old, rotting wood. The top of the totem pole looked ready to topple, and Dipper had to drag his sister away before she bumped in it. A 'No Refunds' sign laid on the ground pecked away by woodpeckers.

"Waddles?" Mabel called out. She set down her bags on the porch of the gift shop. "I'm going to see if I can find Waddles or Gomper."

Dipper nodded, but his attention was already focused on the door. The gift shop sign was flipped to closed, and when he jiggled the knob it was locked firmly. He slammed into it with his shoulder to see if it would break open, but all that did was hurt. 

The museum door was just as locked.

"Hey, Mabel," he called out. "Can you check the doors over there?"

Mabel didn't reply back.

He tried again. "Mabel?"

The silence continued, and it worried Dipper. He made his way around the shack to the back porch, where the back door was wide open. Dipper noticed the broken lock and winced at the screeching of the door hinges. Inside, the Shack was pitch dark. He could vaguely make out the stairs leading to the second floor, but he couldn't see much of anything, especially Mabel.

"Mabel? Where are you?" He tried. Dipper spread out his arms in front of him, moving slow and careful into the darkness of the Shack. He grabbed onto the stair's railing and moved around the stairs towards the living room. "Ma--"

"DIPPER LOOK!"

Dipper yelled out, moving backward until he hit the stairs and fell back.

Right in front of him stood Mabel, grinning triumphantly. Dipper's fear quickly dissipated and turned into exasperation. He grabbed his heart and willed it to stop beating so fast.

"Jeez, Mabel, we're not here to play around. We-- What's that?" 

Tucked away in Mabel's arms was a baby goat. Its fur was a light brown, and it's tail a little tuft of white. It chewed away at Mabel's sweater, but she couldn't seem to care any less about it. If anything, she was practically bursting rainbows and sunshine in her excitement. 

"I found her in the kitchen! I think she belongs to Waddles and Gomper!"

Dipper stood up. "Um, you do know they were a Goat and a Pig, right? They can't actually have babies together."

"I'm sure they had a long and serious conversation about adoption, Dipper," Mabel replied matter-of-factly. She nuzzled the goat's head. "She's adorable! Nothing less from America's power couple!"

"Alright then..." Dipper sighed. "It's getting late. Let's see if we can find a flashlight or something."

Mabel nodded, still hugging the goat as she and Dipper split ways.

"I'm gonna name you Womper."

\--

They did find a flashlight, but the batteries had exploded, leaving the inside covered with discharge.

In the storage room, Dipper found an entire chest of candles, most likely from when they were thirteen and Stan had created a Summerween haunted house. Mabel raided the gift shop, Womper in tow, and found a small box of unused glow sticks and the lantern Stan would use on tours.

While the outside of the Shack was worse for wear, the inside was mainly dusty and more bug-filled than they remembered. Luckily the water was working where the electricity wasn't, and most of the inventory for the gift shop seemed in good enough condition.

After nearly falling through a floorboard in the attic, Dipper thought it would be safer if they stayed ground level. Dragging their old beds downstairs was was quickly dismissed after lifting them up (and they both noted to find bug spray--and lots of it). Instead, they took Stan's bed, which was in way better condition, and carried it downstairs to the living room. They pushed aside Stan's chair and the TV and covered the mattress in old blankets.

Womper was already asleep in by the time the twins were ready for bed.

Dipper and Mabel were quiet. Mabel laid on her side, scratching Womper's belly as she slept. Dipper looked up, thoughts going this way and that. Stan or Soos weren't here. They wouldn't really know about Wendy and the other's until they went to town. Something happened in Gravity Falls, and he couldn't erase the possibility that the people really did just disappear.

"Do you think everyone's okay?" Mabel asked.

Dipper turned on his side to look at her. "Yeah. They have to be."

"Mystery Twins on the case?" Mabel held her fist out with a smile.

Dipper smiled back at her. "Mystery Twins on the case."

They gave each other a fist bump before falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time on Chapter Three: Dipper and Mabel go to town, Womper is adorable, and Gnomes are useless
> 
> Honestly, how can I not involve my OTP Waddles x Gomper in here. Be realistic, it had to happen.
> 
> This week is going to be so stressful that Chapter Three won't be out until the weekend. This is my first time writing Dipper and Mabel so any and all feedback and advice is totally superduperly accepted. Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Welcome to my prologue-ish-thingy I whipped up!
> 
> This is for an AU I've been thinking about where Mabel and Dipper have been gone from Gravity Falls, but when they do return, it's become a ghost town. This is gonna involve Bill Cipher being annoying, supernatural on the loose, and mysteries I don't completely understand myself (so please bear with me).
> 
> I actually really love getting feedback. If you have any I'm totally open and ready for it.
> 
> I'll probably post my ideas and plotting on my side-blog, daring-ghostie.tumblr.com.


End file.
